


Oni and Cooks

by chronicAngel



Category: Naruto
Genre: Blank Period, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Family, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, POV Third Person, Party, Post-Fourth Shinobi War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 05:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12574780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chronicAngel/pseuds/chronicAngel
Summary: "Fine. But I'm not dressing up."





	Oni and Cooks

"Absolutely not." His voice is firm and her lip curls into a pout, her hands on her hips and her expression stern while her husband stands across from her with his arms crossed over his chest and his milky eyes narrowed into a glare. She has known Neji since they were children, assigned to the same genin squad by chance, and it's with that much experience that she can acknowledge he is almost as stubborn as her-- _almost._ Still, the same experience that tells her he is almost as stubborn as her tells her that she can weather him down, when given enough time, and unfortunately for him, he agreed to be stuck with her for the rest of his life. So she leans in sweetly, her face only a few inches away from his, face adorned with a smug smile that he doesn't seem to notice.

Her lips are almost pressed to his when she pulls back, still wearing a pout, and he glares but doesn't push her to kiss him. "Neji-kun," it's very rare for her to actually use honorifics, which should break the illusion immediately, but she imagines he is too caught up in her saccharine tone to notice, "I _really_ want to throw this party. It's so rare that we actually get everyone together, and Halloween is a really big holiday in the West; apparently, kids dress up and run around their neighborhoods in their costumes, knocking on their neighbors' doors and saying 'trick-or-treat'. After that, they get candy and other sweet treats!" Her tone is back to normal now, but she still stands only inches away from him, trapping his body between hers and the kitchen island.

He wrinkles his nose when she tells him of how the holiday is celebrated in the West, "That sounds horrible. Children should not be encouraged to run around and disturb their elders dressed in costumes; and where are their parents anyway? I should hope they aren't allowed to roam without supervision." She huffs and rolls her eyes at him while he continues to give her a serious look, as though he doesn't know very well what she meant and isn't just being obstinate.

She chooses to ignore his pedantry in favor of continuing her argument, "You know, Naruto and Hinata hosted a party last year while you were on that mission to the Land of Waterfalls. Hitomi loved it." The child in question sits in the other room coloring, oblivious to their argument.

"Of course she did. Hitomi loves people, and she would be just as happy to go out to dinner like a normal family surrounded by restaurant patrons rather than celebrating some Western Festival of Disturbance."

"It's not a _Western Festival of Disturbance,_ Neji," she scoffs, stepping away from him and leaning against a wall. "It's _Halloween,_ and it's not like I'm asking you to take our kid trick-or-treating, I know how rude it is to go around disturbing the neighbors, I just think that it'd be nice to do _something_ to celebrate a holiday that's getting more and more popular. You can't stay stuck in the medieval times, you have to embrace newer culture eventually."

"Says whom?" She quirks a brow at him and his face blooms under her scrutiny, though it only grows slightly pink, compared to the redder hues of a younger Hinata (and, often, a current Hinata). "Even if I were saying yes to this party," her face brightens, and he pinches the bridge of his nose, "not that I _am_ saying yes to this party-- there would be many things to account for. Do we even have the space in our house for all of our friends? That's a dozen people that we have to account for and make accommodations for, without counting their children, who will all have needs of their own that we need to meet, such as younger children who cannot even walk or talk or use the bathroom yet. Not only do you have to make enough food to feed those dozen people and their children, but we also have to account for Chōji's appetite and Lee and Gai-sensei's antics; are you sure you'll be able to do all of that?"

She straightens, beaming. "Of course I could handle that, Neji! That is, if that was everything I had to worry about." He looks confused, but she just shrugs, continuing, "Last time I went out to lunch with the girls, Sakura said that Sasuke has been on some big, important mission for months now, and she doesn't expect him to be back for a long while, and Karui said that Chōchō has been really sick recently so she and Chōji are stuck at home. Shino and Kiba are on a mission with Gai-sensei, so that handles he and Lee's antics, and that just leaves," she ticks off their friends on her fingers, "Naruto and Hinata, Sakura, Shikamaru, Ino, Temari, Sai, Lee, and the kids."

He seems to consider this for a moment, even uncrossing his arms as their daughter wanders into the room to show off her drawing, which doesn't look like much of anything, but she compliments it anyway and Neji somehow manages to decipher what she's made a picture of every time. He praises her cat (which just looks like a bunch of triangles at different degrees to her, but whatever) and she grins proudly, passing it to Tenten and making grabby-hands for her father. "Up!" He scolds her, tells her that there's a more polite way to ask, and Tenten has to stifle a laugh at how domestic the whole scene is. Finally, her husband sighs in defeat.

"Fine. But I'm not wearing a costume."

* * *

 

She grins over at the other kunoichi, pausing her preparation of onions to scratch behind her ear awkwardly, a loose strand of hair brushing against the sensitive skin there. "Thanks so much for coming over early to help make the chāhan, Hinata. I really appreciate the extra hands." Rather than say anything, the Hyūga heiress simply smiles and nods, and then cranes her neck to watch her son chase his sister and his cousin around the house while there is still space not filled by moving bodies.

Tenten can only imagine having a child so energetic. From what Naruto and Hinata tell her, Boruto takes after his father in almost every way, something that she doesn't need external confirmation for as her memory flashes to times she has agreed to babysit. Luckily for her, Hitomi takes after _her_ father just as much.

Her hands have the familiar light sting of the chemicals from a freshly-chopped onion as she picks up another to begin peeling and then slicing, and Hinata continues to wash and prepare the pork beside her. She has always preferred crab or shrimp, but she remembers Naruto saying once that his favorite food was the miso ramen with pork fillet at Ichiraku; she can never make ramen without burning the noodles to the bottom of the pot, so she can do this in the least. It's her mother's recipe, something she remembers eating a lot as a kid, and then more as a teenager when she taught herself after her mother's passing. Normally, Neji would cook, but he is currently entertaining a group of toddlers in varying sizes alongside his practical-brother-in-law.

"It was a nice idea to get everyone together like this," Hinata says softly, and Tenten's attention snaps back to the shorter woman, gaze soft. "Naruto has been trying to celebrate as many Western holidays as possible... He says that it's his responsibility as future Hokage to embrace other cultures."

"Really? Thanks! It took a while to convince Neji, but I figured it's been a while since we got everyone together! I mean heck, I don't think I've seen a few of our friends since Hitomi was born, and she just turned three!" It's hard for her to believe that her daughter is getting so big, and it makes her heart throb a bit with fondness. She focuses instead on the 'inviting everyone' part.

Chōchō's fever has only been spiking in the past couple of days, and if it's as bad as Karui implied last they ran into each other, the kid's in really awful shape; she doesn't even have an appetite! Shikamaru may or may not make it, as he's been trapped in the Hokage's office in most of what would be his spare time. In fact, that's a rather common issue, and the only people they know are coming for sure are the couple who have already arrived, and Lee. Gai-sensei is still on his mission, and a small part of her wonders if he's offered Kiba a ride on the wheelchair yet (and if Kiba is immature enough to accept).

"It's a shame that Shino-kun and Kiba-kun can't be here. I haven't seen them in a while."

She puts the onion cubes aside and grabs a handful of mushrooms to chop up and add to the dish. "Yeah, same goes for us and Gai-sensei."

"It's kind of crazy that they would send him on a mission that takes this long, with his condition," Hinata wonders out loud, and Tenten has to try her best to stifle a laugh (a few choked guffaws still claw their ways from her throat). While she's sure Hinata only means well, her mind drifts to the intense training she has caught her sensei in the middle of to get around his disability, and it makes her think of Lee shortly after his match with Gaara during the first Chūnin Exams. Last time she saw him he was trying to get Kakashi-sama to race with him in his desk chair (and she was pretty sure Kakashi was about to accept if it meant getting him out of more paperwork).

"His wheelchair might have slowed him down a bit, but don't underestimate Gai-sensei; he's still as crazy determined and intense as always," Tenten laughs, and then pours a bit of oil into the bottom dip of the wok, which wears stains from ingredients due to its frequent, loving use. It starts sizzling and popping practically the minute she turns the stove on, and she sets her focus to cooking. "He's been coming up with all sorts of ways to continue training in his wheelchair, and of course Lee and Metaru are falling into step right behind him; sometimes I worry that Lee's gonna do something reckless on the battlefield just so he can be like Gai-sensei. At least Metaru's not as crazy as those two, I'm not sure I could handle it."

Hinata doesn't linger about in the kitchen once she has surpassed her usefulness. Tenten supposes she wants to make sure her children aren't killing the rest of her family, and so she just hums a tune she doesn't actually remember as she works by herself so she can join the rest of her family. It's half an hour before she finally finishes her cooking, and she only leaves to answer the door.

She grins when she sees a familiar green jumpsuit, though Metaru seems to be dressed as a sort of oni as opposed to his usual attire. She still pushes his mask off of his face so she can ruffle his hair. "Lee, Metaru, it's good to see you guys!" She crouches down to be level with the boy, noting the way she doesn't have to sit on her knees anymore.

"Wow, I can't believe how big you're getting, Metaru! It feels like just last week I started training your kunai with you, now you're springing up like rice grass whenever I'm not looking at you!" She grins when his cheeks flush and stands to address his father, wrapping her arms around him in a warm gesture before stepping aside and opening the door wider so they may step inside. People file into her home over the course of the next hour. Sakura and her daughter are next, and the girl beams at her and brags about her "new" glasses, even though she got them over six months ago, while Sakura tries to rub well-hidden exhaustion from her eyes. Ino and Shikamaru arrive together, and if Tenten didn't know how loyal they both inherently are despite how obviously in love they still act, she would suspect something; Temari apparently stayed home to watch the kids, and Ino left Sai with her as she didn't trust him not to say anything rude at such a large gathering.

None of the men are dressed up (not even Naruto, which surprises her), but both Ino and Sakura are (Ino is wearing something that looks expensive, but Tenten can't actually place it, while Sakura just wears her work outfit and says she is a doctor, though she is left hoping that the blood on her clothes is fake). The kids all are, too, though she only recognizes Metaru and Hitomi, both of which are dressed as plain oni. Boruto and Himawari are in elaborate cosplays of movie characters she doesn't recognize, and she's not actually sure _what_ Sarada is supposed to be. Whatever it is, it's green, and she happily chases Boruto and the girls around while 'roaring'.

The women all gravitate toward each other as the party progresses, with Naruto and Lee getting caught up in some competition over something she isn't keeping track of, and she's grateful for the company of people she considers legitimately close friends.

"Oh, Tenten! Sorry, I forgot to give you this earlier; I thought that Chōji would be here, and nobody deserves to feed him by themselves," Sakura explains as she passes Tenten a wrapped bowl with, when she looks inside, cold-served hiyashi chūka. It's even more colorful than usual, with tamagoyaki and ginger nestled into the noodles firmly as a topping and what looks to be shredded chicken mingling with sliced cucumber.

"Thanks! I'll make sure Naruto finds it, since I didn't make any ramen. I'm sure if he had his way, all of our parties would be held at Ichiraku ramen. Poor Teuchi..." She hears a chorus of sniggers behind her as she finds her way to the kitchen, and she bumps into someone lean and quite a bit taller than her (which describes most of the men in her social group, so she looks up at his face for additional identification). She rests her hands smugly on her hips when she sees it's her husband.

"Tenten," he mutters, rather than apologizing, but despite his seemingly-frustrated outward appearance, she can tell that he's having fun. This fact only adds to her entertainment, and he must notice because he crosses his arms and looks away, soft nose sticking up in the air snobbishly.

She leans up to wrap her arms around his shoulders and leans into him, opting for the merciful route and staying quiet. He seems to appreciate the gesture as, after a minute of continued stubbornness, he uncrosses his arms and wraps them firmly around her hips, resting his forehead against hers in a show of affection that she has grown more accustomed to than kisses or cuddles. Hyūga Neji is not a very physically affectionate man, when he doesn't want to be, and he especially never wants to when he is surrounded by people who he can only tentatively call friends due to shared nightmares from their teenage years. She privately thinks that they were all too young to go through the things they did, and he was especially too young to almost die.

He must notice her train of thought because he takes it upon himself then to distract her. He adjusts the position of his arms and then scoops her up, carrying her bridal style, into the bustle of their party as Naruto shouts something over Shikamaru, who looks impatient as he tries to make conversation with Ino and Sakura. Hitomi and the rest of the kids have wormed their way back into the house, and are now picking at the new offering on the table, except for Metaru, who has been the opposite of his father's intense and outgoing nature at that age since he was born and hides behind Lee's legs. Immediately, she is grabbed by Lee, who says that because he lost whatever silly competition he was having with Naruto, he will do one hundred laps up and down their stairs while carrying Tenten. As he makes his way to the steps, she feels like this company is home.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I got a bit dorky at the end there. Happy Halloween kids!


End file.
